Alprazolam & Unhealthy Coping
by Theguynextdoortoyou
Summary: Catra makes a plan, that will help the Horde win its war with Brightmoon, all she requires is a little bit of first one's tech and a whole lot of will to continue on with the mission even when she will be tested the most. Self medication and drug abuse warning.


Alprazolam & Unhealthy Coping

Location: Deep in the Fright Zone Time: 9:45 PM

The walkway towards Hordaks lair that Catra walked was silent, no chirp of bird or sound of insects in the night was heard near his domain. Life itself just seemed to wither around him, decay and the horrid smell it brings fills the air here. Guards were few and far between, always with the affixed emblem of Hordaks guard pinned above their right breast. The way into his lair wasn't so far away from where she parked the skiff, parked being a generous way of saying ditched into a small tree.

Being called up unexpectedly to appear in front of her superior startled Catra to her core, other than failing her first assault on Brightmoon, she really couldn't think of another reason to be reprimanded… 'What am I being summoned for, why the urgency and secrecy to? Usually if he's angry yelling via a holo-link is enough…' stumped on why she was being summoned, Catra approached the large ebony doors and put her back into it as she pushed hard against them as they slowly creaked open. The inside of this cavernous lair wasn't anything like the dark, swamp that surrounded the premises, inside was bright, marble floors polished so the point of being mirrors. Catra followed her memory of this place, 'straight, then left at the dining room and he should be two doors down in the throne room…'. Hordak sat beneath the crimson banner that hung behind his chair seated at the end of the room. As a troop of his guard led Catra closer, Hordaks sneered.

"So, Force Captain Catra, how goes my war hmm?" the light played with his eyes, glinting off them like a predator playing with its food "Last I heard we took the fight all the way to Brightmoon, but took some unrecoverable losses that would prove fatal to the operation. Please do correct me if I am mistaken Captain Catra, I wouldn't want my judgement to be…" the air fell silent as he stopped, as if Catra was going to correct her master when he clearly meant to make a point. "unfair."

Catra's face gave him nothing, she held firm throughout this scolding "No sir, your assessment of how the battle went is quite accurate." Giving him a formal bow, she continued with her scheme, Catra knew she would answer for her first big fuck up sooner or later, that's why she concocted a plan. "And lord Hordak I must say that this loss was eye opening, the big picture of how the battle unraveled, how we lost our momentum right when they were on the cusp of defeat. I traced it all back to one event my lord, should I take care of said problem now, the next attack we launch will surely be undefeated!" feeling emboldened by her blatant grab for power and more importantly, another chance to fix her problem with the angry lord, Catra takes a big step forward striking a power pose. "I need your newly made stealth suit though for this plan to work, will you hear me out?" Catra looks expectantly towards her master.

With a sigh Hordak relents, "Fine tell me this plan of your, then I will tell you if I may bestow such a gift upon you."

With a sigh Catra explains her plan, to use the cloaking device to infiltrate Brightmoon, and vigorously learn the schedules and addendums of everyone of importance.

A month later

Location: Horde base near The Whispering Woods Time 8:47 PM

Catra tail swishes lazily behind her as she reads over the documents her scouts have filled out over the past two weeks of covert infiltration. A veritable treasure trove of information to be used against Brightmoon, guard rotations, home locations of powerful leaders, storerooms of lost tech, everything the Horde could want to know. The fur around her neck stood on end with anticipation, the thought of finally getting out in the field sent adrenalin pumping through her. Draping the cloak over her lithe shoulders and head, the material tightened around her figure and shined a silverish light in bright succession before shimmering and morphing to match her surroundings. Grabbing the mask that accompanied the cloak, Catra made her way to the exit of the camp the camouflage that the cloak and mask emitted made her all but invisible as she grabbed her skiff and jetted off through the woods at breakneck speeds.

The engines purred as she zoomed over shrubs and around trees, 'And now for checkmate Adora, soon Brightmoon will be forced to surrender when She Ra isn't there to save your princess alliance.' A smile unfurled as her mismatched eyes gazed upon the fast approaching walls of the city. Flipping a switch that killed the engines Catra jumped with feline grace as the skiff soared pass the outer walls of the castle, the skiff finding itself thrown headfirst into a large tree in the distance.

Looking at her chronometer she bit her lip from snarling "Shit that took longer then expected, looks like there won't be any time for sabotage tonight." Jumping over rooftops ensured that her detection was all but unnoticed by all, until she reached the castle. Taking the grappling hook off her side Catra fired it into the window she knew to be Adora's room. As the hook sailed through the air, the wings of She Ra's Pegasus decided to make things difficult, as Adora in her Princess form flew over an invisible Catra not twenty feet above her knocking the grappling hook off course sending it clattering down the side of the castle. "Fuck Adora your timing literally couldn't be worse right now" looking back down at her chronometer she hissed, "Alright that gives me ten minutes before she usually goes back to her room, that wall isn't that tall ill only need two minutes." And with that Catra set back to her climb as she went for another grapple.

Climbing through the window into Adora's room balcony Catra breathed a sigh of relief. "Now where to hide before Adora walks in, this cloaking device can fool the guards eyes but I don't want to test if it will fool She Ra…" Walking around the canopy bed that had been slashed open Catra smiled as she spotted the flat bed she knew Adora slept on, "Just like home ehh Adora… somethings you just can't change and it looks like that's one of them."

Catra's ears perked to attention as she heard the distinct sound of Glimmer's whining as she listed off reasons why they wouldn't be going to where Bow suggested they eat tonight, "First of all Bow, they have terrible music like seriously Harp music? I'm not a grandma I want something more adventurous than Mystics! Besides we ate there last week can't we try out Grovey-Noodles, I have been literally dying to eat there since it opened two months ago, LITERALY DYING I TELL YOU!"

The laugh that followed the rant couldn't be anyone other than Bow, Catra made note "Alright, alright we can finally go to Grovey-Noodles tonight Glimmer but I'm telling you, a bunch of the guys who work down at the fletchers went there and said that the noodles weren't all that grovey. But since you seem rather uhh…. Passionate about it I'm game to get my noodles on! You wanna come along Adora?"

Her ears perked up at the mention of Adora's name, "No thanks guys not tonight." That voice Catra knew belonged to Her Ra 'why hasn't she dropped princess perfect yet? And with that Catra saw a perfect hiding spot as she eyed the large opening cut into the canopy bed. Diving into the sea of pillows and cotton that spewed from the opening, the cloak seamlessly transitioned to give Catra the appearance of just another pillow. A few seconds later the doorknob turned "But I did hear that, the noodle place was having that guy Mermista has been talking about… I think it was Juice WRLD? I heard him a little bit he's got some catchy songs you will like Glimmer." The door opens for Catra to see the back of She Ra, and the Sword of Protection she carried. "I'm feeling beat tonight, just going to bed in a little bit but you two go have fun okay? Tell me if that guy Mermista has been talking up is any good too alright, Ill see you two tomorrow early for training!"

Catra watched them all say their quick good byes as Glimmer grabbed Bow's hand as she screamed "GROVEY!" and they disappeared in a poof. She Ra closed the door behind her and settled her back to it, and as she did slowly She Ra faded away into a much smaller Adora who slid down said door to the floor. Catra's eyes scanned her best friend, err ex best friend, she looked tired. Not just long day tired, she looked like she hasn't been sleeping well for a while. Her eyes normally a pretty crystalline blue, looked dull and unfocused, and as Adora looked around her room those same eyes looked hungry.

Scrambling forward on her hands and knees Adora lunged under her bed, catching Catra by surprise as she grabbed for the handle of her long knife. Adora reached under the bed and pulled out a small box "where is it where is it where is it SHIT!" getting up Adora kicked the box over as she rushed towards Catra's hiding spot, reaching towards her, Catra held her breath as Adora's arm shot underneath a pillow brushing against her tail in the process. Pulling back Adora's hand shot back to her face with a small bottle in hand, with it a sigh escaped as she walked towards her water fall where she grabbed her speaker and dragged it towards her bathtub.

Catra watched as Adora grabbed a silver disc out from the box she kicked over and slid it into the speaker, and a smooth guitar started playing, Catra's mismatched eyes gaped as she watched Adora start striping her clothes off and tossing them by her bed. Adora bent over and started running the water for her bath, then walked back to the waterfall and cupped her hands, filling them with water that she quickly drank as she walked back to the tub as she grabbed for the bottle she found underneath Catra's tail, opening it she dropped two white bars into her hand that she quickly popped into her mouth and swallowed with the water. With that Catra watched mesmerized as Adora's naked body started to sway her hips and shoulders with the song as she went back to her tub.

Stepping into the hot water Adora got goosebumbs as she started singing a little bit of the course to the song as she slid deeper into the tub, her beautiful melodic voice cut through Catra 'she sounds so slow and sad', "Told her if I'm gonna die, imma die young, every day I've been getting fucked up… finally know the difference between love and drugs, shorty told me I should really sober up…" as her head ducked under the water.

Catra took this moment to carefully and quietly make her way from the big bed she found herself in, as the base from the song blared it made it easy as the man sung 'lets get too high, reach a new high, take the shrooms and the pills at the same time'. Walking over to the small box Adora had hidden under her bed, Catra could feel her heart drop as she saw all the small bottles that lay inside. Reaching in she grabbed one and read its name 'what is this, Adora never took anything before when she was still home, and now like eight months after being a princess she's taking Xanax…' looking back over at Adora she could tell that those pills must be acting fast because her eyes had become increasingly red by the minute, her attention seemingly only on the song that was playing.

Taking her time Catra rummaged through the room being careful as to not disturb the zoned out Adora. After about twenty minutes of carefully tiptoeing around the room looking for secrets, Catra found herself with the only option left being Adora's desk. The desk that was currently right infront of Adora's eyes as she stared at it from the tub while she hummed to some of the songs and mindlessly recited some of the hooks. Taking a deep breath Catra steadied herself, 'well I guess its time to put this tech to the test, lets see if she notices a moving shape going through her desk…'

Tiptoeing her way behind Adora as she cleaned her hair, Catra made it to the desk as Adora sat behind her rinsing her hair out. Seeing a book that Catra clearly remembered Adora having in the fright zone, she bit her tongue to manage the squeal of delight that threatened to escape. Hearing the swish of moving water Catra peeked behind her as she watched Adora stumble from the tub and grab a towel that she wrapped her body in, leaving the feline with a noticeable feeling of letdown, 'god I could stare at her all night if she let me… wait maybe I can with the whole being invisible thing I mean… No focus on the mission, I came her to steal the Sword so we can launch an attack tomorrow and bring a swift end to this war…' and with that Catra watched closely as Adora fell back into her bed.

Adora started to sing along with the song again, each time she did Catra couldn't help the sadness that swept over her "I still see your shadows in my room, can't take back the love that I gave you. Its to the point where I love and I hate you, and I cannot change you so I must replace you… you left me falling and landed inside my grave, I know that you want me dead. I take prescriptions to make me feel A-okay, I know its all in my head. I have these lucid dreams where I can't move a thing, thinking of you in my bed… you were my everything, thoughts of a wedding ring… now I'm just better off dead…" As she trailed off Catra had moved closer to her, much closer. Like touching her, Catra was crying as she laid next to her on her bed and held Adora in a tight embrace.

Catra quickly realizes what she was doing and quickly gets off the bed and quietly jumps back and watches Adora, waiting for her to say something about just having been touched by the invisible Catra. If Catra was upset listening to Adora sing a song that she could only guess was about her, she was in for a rude awaking as Adora sat still for the rest of the song as the man kept singing on, "… You make my heart ache, you made my heart break again… I still see your shadows in my room, can't take back the love that I gave you, its to the point where I love and I hate you, and I can't change you so I must replace you…"

As The song finished up and the CD spit itself out of the speaker as the song ended Adora broke down sobbing, "… I must be losing my mind because I swear I could feel you." Catra had seen enough, she glanced at the door where the sword of protection lay as Adora cried into her pillow in a state of confusion and chemical drunkenness. Catra knew she couldn't stand to see Adora like this.

Grabbing the Sword of Protection Catra made her way with it back towards the way she entered the room as she shot her grappling hook off into the distance. "I'm so sorry Adora, I'm so, so, so sorry things are so fucked between us." And with that Catra lept off into the distance with sword in hand as she stowed away into the night. The haunting thought of the person she cared most about in this world scared out of her mind, unsure of her own reality, something she could have stayed and helped her through had Catra her self not been so scared to confront her own feelings on the subject… it was just easier to run back to the Horde pretend that it never happened. Isn't it?


End file.
